It is time for mercy…for the youths of Mother of Tupãrendá House

Maria FischerDec 04, 2016

PARAGUAY, Maria Fischer with Ani Souberlich •

“They told me, and I forgot it, I saw it, and I understood it; I did it, and I learned it.”

This how it is every day in what the youths do at Mother of Tupãrendá House. Today we learned to make buns for hot dogs, bread for pork loin and our invention: big bread– “The size of the hunger that we always have, and it has no end just like that of anyone our age. The truth is that it is delicious since we ate it as a delicious sandwich during snack time,” commented the youths who learn the trade at Mother of Tupãrendá House. They not only learn how to make bread that is always incredibly delicious, but at Tupãrendá, they also learn how to overcome the wounds of their life– poverty, abandonment and hunger, and their history of breaking the law and their lives in jail. May they learn to live a life as beings loved by God, and by the people who welcome them in this place, in the shadow of the Tupãrendá Shrine, in this great work of mercy that is the Mother of Tupãrendá House. It is a logical consequence of Schoenstatters’ commitment to the prison ministry.

Fruits of mercy for sale

During the preparation for Jubilee 2014, much was said about the fruits of the Covenant of Love that we wanted to gather in the attitude of the Magnificat. After every Sunday Mass in Tupãrendá, the fruits of the Covenant of Love solidarity can be bought and eaten, the fruits of mercy, in the form of bread and vegetables…It sells well, and this is not only income for the House; but also, it is joy and pride for the youths.

The boys from the vegetable garden go out to sell their vegetables, and they return happy because they sold out. What joy is perceived when they render account and count the money they earned with the labor of their hands!

“We already learned how make very delicious sweet bread, which we hope you will like when you taste them. They ‘fly’ as soon as they are out of the oven, because the aroma wafts its way through the entire area of Itauguá and Ypacaraí, as soon as we place it in the oven!”

“Our vegetable garden is more beautiful each day. Of course, we put in our work, but undoubtedly, she, our MTA owner of the House, takes care of each new shoot. And thanks to this, very soon we will also prepare small pots with little medicinal and aromatic plants, which we hope you will also like!” they shared on their Facebook page.

Sale after the Mass in Tupãrendá, first Sunday of Advent

She takes care

“Do not worry about the fulfillment of your desire I love those who love me.” (Schoenstatt The Founding Document 11, p 32). We want to thank the boys from the Catechesis of the Castrense Diocese, who made their First Communion on 27 October, and decided to give joy to those who belong to Mother of Tupãrendá House, writing us a beautiful letter and by preparing twenty kits with articles for personal hygiene; just when we needed them! We need to learn to live more from Divine Providence. Those from above are never outdone in generosity. Thank you! Every contribution, no matter how small makes a difference. May the MTA keep the Children of the Castrense Diocese in the fold of her mantle and in the deepest part of her heart,” commented Ani Souberlich, Director of the Mother of Tupãrendá House. She happily added: “They ordered 315 sweet breads for 9 December, on behalf of a business of Asunción.”

The Holy Door that we have crossed in this Jubilee Year has set us on the path of charity, which we are called to travel daily with fidelity and joy. It is the road of mercy, on which we meet so many of our brothers and sisters who reach out for someone to take their hand and become a companion on the way.

The desire for closeness to Christ requires us to draw near to our brothers and sisters, for nothing is more pleasing to the Father than a true sign of mercy. By its very nature, mercy becomes visible and tangible in specific and powerful acts. Once mercy has been truly experienced, it is impossible to turn back. It grows constantly and it changes our lives. It is an authentic new creation: it brings about a new heart, capable of loving to the full, and it purifies our eyes to perceive hidden needs. (MM 16).

Yes, once one places him/herself on the road of mercy, there is no turning back. And that is the least that one wants. Truly, the works of mercy, the works of covenant solidarity that the culture of mercy generates has the potential of addiction. One wants to do more and more and with increasing joy…

Thank you, Pope Francis for showing us the itinerary of Schoenstatt reaching out as a merciful missionary.

About schoenstatt.org

Our mission is to serve the life of the International Schoenstatt family and the Church by promoting bonds of solidarity - covenant culture - and offering this service as a testimony - culture of encounter.

In all our actions, we daily hear the echoes of the words given to us by Pope Francis during the audience on 25 October 2014, "a culture of encounter is a covenant culture that creates solidarity."

About Schoenstatt

Schoenstatt is an ecclesial Movement, where everyone, each according to his individual vocation and united in covenant, serves the Church and its mission and the world God has entrusted to us.

The core of Schoenstatt's foundation is the covenant of love with Mary, the Mother of God.

This covenant of love generates culture and covenant culture is the unique expression of our way of life and work, our attachment to God, to people, to nature and culture, to the Church and the world, which always departs from the covenant of love.

Schoenstatt's commitment to this covenant culture inspires it to go out from the shrines to the existential peripheries to "sanctuarize" the world, as Pope Francis says.